I continue to work a lot in my garden. The rain we’ve been getting off and on is really great for my plants. I’m currently battling some bugs that seem to really love the pumpkins, squash, and cukes, and I’ve been spraying with an organic spray that uses pyrethrin but it’s not working as well as I would like, which is too bad because it worked pretty well at getting rid of the cucumber beetles. I’ve got a ton of green tomatoes, a few pumpkins including one that’s starting to turn orange, a bunch of spaghetti squash and a few butternut. I’m hoping to get the bugs under control so I don’t lose them all! My succession lettuce is coming along nicely, though none of it will be ready for a few weeks. I have to learn to time it better next year. I bought some broccoli, spinach, and turnip seeds to try for a fall garden, and I started talking to Ed about building a cold frame, so we could have lettuce and a few other things (not sure what yet) throughout the winter. Exciting!!!

The 5-minute shower challenge is going really well. In that I’m taking showers and they’re shorter than usual. Are they 5 minutes? Not always. I have to admit that I had gotten pretty lax on actually keeping track of the time. Fortunately my mom just gave me a shower timer, so I’ll have to pop that in and see how I do. But overall, I’ve done pretty well in reducing how much water I use and how much time I’m in the shower. I haven’t taken a swim in my (two person) jet tub since I began the challenge, but then again, I like to take those in winter and there’s not really an appeal to sitting in a hot tub when it’s so hot outside.

Here’s what I said I’d do…

CAFE- 100%

LITE- 50%

SUGAR- 50%

SOW- 50%

BUZZ- 100%

VEG- 0%

Here’s what I did…

CAFE- 100% Ed and I went out to eat with our friends Vinny and Alicia. Mom and I got baked potatoes at the potato festival. Didn’t do so well there!

LITE- 50% I have been cooking from scratch when I’m at home, with the exception of pasta. I have definately reduced my use of processed goods and changed that significantly.

SUGAR- 50% I haven’t used any white sugar, and have used honey and maple syrup when needed, so I stuck with what I said I would. Oh, except when I got ice cream with our friends when we went out to eat. But if I’m gonna cheat, I’m gonna cheat all the way.

SOW- 50% I’ve been making an effort to have seconds only when I’m hungry, instead of just when it’s yummy. Can’t really say if it’s made a difference or not yet.

BUZZ- 100% I quit coffee and alcohol! (Just kidding- never drank them, but wish I did just so I could quit them). I did have chocolate in my ice cream…

VEG- 0% Done! I said I wouln’t become vegetarian/vegan, and I didn’t.

Let’s just say that I slacked pretty bad at this challenge last week… well the only thing I can do is try to do better in the coming week!

You are so ambitious! And doing so well. With so much to take on, your progress is admirable.

Also, I wonder whether our garden is buggy. Our cuke leaves are drying up in places (our current theory is that we need to water the garden more often, even with all the rain we’re getting here in VA).

Just came back to look at your response, and saw that I forgot to log out of WordPress so that you can see who I am! # 2 was me. ; ) Yellow fuzzy larvae… hmm… wish I could help… maybe when the bugs develop.